The training of medical personnel in the art of gynecological techniques, as with all medical procedures, is hampered by the unavailability of live patients willing to be practiced on and the undesirability of allowing untrained personnel from performing life affecting, and possibly threatening, medical procedures. Typically, medical students are trained in techniques such as laparoscopy and minilaparotomy and IUD insertion through study in combination with observing and assisting trained physicians. Thus, the advantages of hands-on training are not provided.
To provide more realistic training, mannequins and components have been created that simulate the human body. These mannequins offer physicians and medical students the training opportunity to repeatedly perform medical procedures until perfected. The mannequins, however, must realistically simulate human anatomy to be of much value. While it is fairly simple to model the exterior shape of human body parts, it has proved quite difficult to accurately model internal organs to provide a competent training adjunct in the gynecological field.
To serve as a training tool, a gynecological simulator should enable students to practice common gynecological procedures such as administering pelvic examinations, IUD insertion and identification of normal and diseased cervices. As a solution, gynecological simulators have duplicated the exterior of the female lower torso, including the vulva and vagina such that they are capable of receiving a speculum. Attached to the distal end of these vaginas are molded cervices and uteri for inspection during practiced pelvic examinations. Cervices provided with a simulator can be diseased to aid in disease identification. Further, uteri can be provided with cut out sections to enable viewing of IUD insertion and removal.
Gynecological simulators, however, have had limited utility as training devices due to the difficulty in modeling the female reproductive organs. Simulators have included cervices and uteri for inspection but have failed to realistically model the female anatomy. In particular, during a routine pelvic examination, the doctor grasps the cervix with a tenaculum forcep to pull the cervix toward the labia for taking tissue samples. Further, the uterus is often elevated and/or rotated to enable the physician to palpate the top and sides of the uterus, the fallopian tubes and the ovaries. Practice of these procedures has been unavailable or limited because the cervices contained in gynecological simulators disengage from the simulator when grasped or pulled and the uteri have been fixed in location and non-rotatable. Moreover, simulated training in the techniques of laparoscopy and minilaparotomy for tubal sterilization procedures has been unavailable.
What is needed is a gynecological simulator capable of more accurately modeling the female reproductive organs, and that securely retains the cervix but also allows elevation and rotation of the uterus. In addition, such a gynecological simulator should provide training in minimally invasive surgical procedures such as laparoscopy and minilaparotomy while enhancing palpation and IUD insertion training.